Today I’d like to talk about Normal Festival, which took place in between 4 and 7 November, 2009. It’s a festival devoted to people who go about some things a little slower, in other words, people who are sometimes called “mentally handicapped”. Mainly, I want to talk about the participation of the theatre group Inventura, which I am part of. Before writing about it, I should first mention that the main theme of this year was work and that the logo was composed of various tools (for instance, cogwheels, different types of keys, a camera, etc.). And in the spirit of this year’s logo, we, the actors of Inventura, rehearsed a shadow play under the guidance of Ilona Labuťová and Denisa Dvořáková. The play kicked off the festival. Each of us held a paper model of some type of tool behind a curtain that let through light. In total, we created six stronzo poses. Our introduction was followed by a video clip, which I think turned out very well. It was created by Ludmila “Lou” Poláková, a young animator, who works with Inventura. She used computer animation to make the various tools used in the logo move. An opening ceremony followed, with a screening of short films. Inventura presented its newest clip, set to a song by the band Garage, with the text written by Egon Bondy and music by Mejla Hlavsa (Muchomůrky bílé). I would also like to mention a short performance called Marťani (Martians), taken from Inventura’s upcoming theatre project. For this festival, we performed the piece along with my colleague Martin Vošmink. The piece has a basic structure, but all else is improvised. We can only hope that the audience at La Fabrica enjoyed the performance, but they must have because they laughed and applauded at the end. But why don’t you come and see it for yourself! The festival, of course, had many components (theatre performances, concerts, exhibitions, workshops, etc.), but that’s a whole other chapter. I think this year’s festival was once again a success. Everyone who helped put it together and who was there deserves praise. See you in 2010!